venerdì 26 gennaio 2007

WHEN we use the term "Apartheid" to describe the situation, we have to be aware of the fact that the similarity between the Israeli occupation and the White regime in South Africa concerns only the methods, not the substance. This must be made quite clear, so as to prevent grave errors in the analysis of the situation and the conclusions drawn from it.It is always dangerous to draw analogies with other countries and other times. No two countries and no two situations are exactly the same. Every conflict has its own specific historical roots. Even when the symptoms are the same, the disease may be quite different.These reservations all apply to comparisons between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the historical conflict between the Whites and the Blacks in South Africa. Suffice it to point out several basic differences:(a) In SA there was a conflict between Blacks and Whites, but both agreed that the state of South Africa must remain intact- the question was only who would rule it. Almost nobody proposed to partition the country between the Blacks and the Whites.Our conflict is between two different nations with different national identities, each of which places the highest value on a national state of its own.(b) In SA, the idea of "separateness" was an instrument of the White minority for the oppression of the Black majority, and the Black population rejected it unanimously. Here, the huge majority of the Palestinians want to be separated from Israel in order to establish a state of their own. The huge majority of Israelis, too, want to be separated from the Palestinians. Separation is the aspiration of the majority on both sides, and the real question is where the border between them should run. On the Israeli side, only the settlers and their allies demand to keep the whole historical area of the country united and object to separation, in order to rob the Palestinians of their land and enlarge the settlements. On the Palestinian side, the Islamic fundamentalists also believe that the whole country is a "waqf" (religious trust) and belongs to Allah, and therefore must not be partitioned.(c) In SA, a White minority (about 10 percent) ruled over a huge majority of Blacks (78 percent), people of mixed race (7 percent) and Asians (3 percent). Here, between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, there are now 5.5 million Jewish-Israelis and an equal number of Palestinian-Arabs (including the 1.4 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel).(d) The SA economy was based on Black labor and could not possibly have existed without it. Here, the Israeli government has succeeded in excluding the non-Israeli Palestinians almost completely from the Israeli labor market and replacing them with foreign workers.(fonte: Counterpunch, Uri Avnery, Israel and Apartheid)

giovedì 25 gennaio 2007

This Saturday 27 January, hundreds of thousands of Americans will march on Washington DC to demand peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East. The global partnership Avaaz is working to raise a worldwide voice of solidarity through an international virtual march. Time is short, so add your voice and join the march today!

This Saturday, Avaaz supporters at the US march will carry banners and country placards announcing how many of us from each nation are joining the marching. Every signature will be counted on the banners! Let’s raise a global voice for a real plan to end this war. Let’s make those numbers big. Time is short. Join the global peace march and tell your friends today!

* Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are forbidden to stay in the West Bank.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter East Jerusalem.

* West Bank Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter the settlements' area (even if their lands are inside the settlements' built area).

* Gaza residents are forbidden to establish residency in the West Bank.

Periodic prohibitions

* Residents of certain parts of the West Bank are forbidden to travel to the rest of the West Bank.

Travel permits required

* A permit for medical treatment in Israel and Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem (The applicant must produce an invitation from the hospital, his complete medical background and proof that the treatment he is seeking cannot be provided in the occupied territories).

Checkpoints and barriers

* There were 75 manned checkpoints in the West Bank as of January 9, 2007.

* There are on average 150 mobile checkpoints a week (as of September 2006).

* There are 446 obstacles placed between roads and villages, including concrete cubes, earth ramparts, 88 iron gates and 74 kilometers of fences along main roads.

* There are 83 iron gates along the separation fence, dividing lands from their owners. Only 25 of the gates open occasionally.

Travel time before 2000 versus today

Tul Karm-Ramallah

Then: less than one hour.

Now: Two hours.

Katana/Beit Anan-Ramallah

Then: 15 minutes.

Now: One hour to 90 minutes.

Katana-Jerusalem

Then: five minutes.

Now: "Nobody goes to Jerusalem anymore."

(fonte Haaretz, this information was gathered by Haaretz, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Machsom Watch, per la mappa OCHA - Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).

mercoledì 17 gennaio 2007

per ora la legge di cui al post di ieri è stata congelata!A statement released by the IDF on Wednesday said that the implementation of the order "will be postponed until further evaluation... by the official authorities."(fonte Haaretz, IDF freezes ban on Israelis driving W. Bank Palestinians)

martedì 16 gennaio 2007

però non insieme.Dal 19 gennaio, infatti, entra in vigore una legge israeliana che impedisce che Israeliani (o stranieri) e Palestinesi viaggino insieme in macchina a meno che non ci siano parentele di primo grado o permessi speciali.On 19 November 2006, the commander of IDF forces in the West Bank, Major-General Yair Naveh, issued an order prohibiting Israelis and tourists from using their vehicles to transport Palestinians in the West Bank without a permit from the army. The order is to take effect on 19 January 2007. The order does not apply to Palestinians who hold a permit to enter Israel or the settlements, to Israeli bus drivers, Israel residents carrying Palestinians who are first-degree relatives, and soldiers and police officers on duty. Violation of the order is a criminal offense, for which both the Palestinian passenger and the Israeli driver are subject to punishment. ... Under international law, Israel must respect the human rights of all persons under its authority. These rights include the right to equality, freedom of movement, maintain family ties and social ties, engage in political activity, and the right to work and earn a livelihood. The military authorities ignore the discriminatory nature of the order and justify it as a military necessity, for example, by restricting the number of Palestinians entering Israel in Israeli vehicles without a permit. However, even assuming that the order advances one security objective or another, the sweeping nature of the order, and the fact that it is not urgent (even in the eyes of the military authorities, who postponed its validity for two months) make the infringement of human rights in this case disproportionate, and therefore illegal. The order is abhorrent, not only because it violates human rights and international law, but because of the extent to which it interferes in the individual's private life. The separation between Israelis and Palestinians, however, is not new. Yet, until now, it was seen, primarily, in measures taken in the public sphere, for example, by building the separation barrier, prohibiting Palestinian vehicles on certain roads, and forbidding Israelis to enter Area A. The new order, on the other hand, penetrates into the private space of the vehicle, with the objective of separating two persons lawfully present in the area. Furthermore, the very use of legislation to force separation between people based on their nationality raises associations with the loathsome regimes that nobody seeks to resemble.(fonte Maan News Agency, B'Tselem: repeal the order banning foreigners and Israelis from transporting West Bank Palestinians in their vehicles)e ancora...Eight Israeli human rights organizations have petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice to abolish the order prohibiting Israeli and foreign nationals from transporting Palestinian citizens in their vehicles in the West Bank from 19 January. ... the "order is legal basis for targeted, systematic, institutional discrimination, amounting to apartheid."(fonte Maan News Agency, Human rights group urge Israel to revoke order prohibiting travel with Palestinians).apartheid.